On 4 February 2020, American Airlines was the first one to suspend flights to Hong Kong due to a developing pandemic, and before you know it, Airlines across the world followed the pursuit and began imposing travel bans to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.
People everywhere were restricted to the home. Work from home became the new normal. Schools, industries, companies, courts all were shut down but continued working, thanks to technological innovations. Covid-19 impacted each sector of the economy, but it was the tourism sector that was hit the hardest. People locked themselves in their homes and the tourist agencies had no way to generate revenue even with all the technical innovations around.
The tourism sector continues to suffer whopping under the COVID-19 pandemic: in the first five months of the year 2021, international tourist arrivals decreased by a startling 95 per cent globally and forecasts indicate a loss of over $4 trillion to global GDP by the end of 2021.
It’s a shock for developed economies, but an emergency for developing countries. Let’s see the statistical data to understand the severity of the problem.
WTTC’s latest annual research shows:
- The Tourism sector suffered a loss of almost US$4.5 trillion to reach US$4.7 trillion in 2020, with the contribution to GDP dropping by a staggering 49.1% compared to 2019; relative to a 3.7% GDP decline of the global economy in 2020.
- In 2019, the Travel & Tourism sector contributed 10.4% to global GDP; a share that decreased to 5.5% in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions.
- In 2020, 62 million jobs were lost.
- Domestic visitor spending decreased by 45%, while international visitor spending declined by 69.4%.
This statistical data not only tells about the muddling situation of the tourism sector but also demands urgent actions at the global level.
“Tourism not only enables us to expand our horizons, appreciate mother nature and connect with people from ‘all walks of life’… It also enhances the socio-economic growth and job creation, income generation and the development of countries’ infrastructure” said the UN Secretary-general António Guterres.
Tourism touches all the sectors of the economies, from cultural to social, enabling people from marginalized and vulnerable groups to earn a living for themselves. It benefits the local people largely and directly. To bring the economy back, the tourism sector must be rejuvenated because only then the rehabilitation of the people and thus the economy will take place.
Governments globally should work on restoring tourism altogether by technology innovation, involving the local people, and building back consumer confidence. Moreover, governments should not think about bringing back tourism to the same level but about enhancing it to new heights.
COVID-19 is not the only global emergency we are going through, extreme weather is becoming the new normal too. Deadly wildfires, floods, droughts, the number of extreme events experienced during 2021 make clear the need for urgent action. The climate emergency is real and a survival threat to societies in both developed and developing countries. Hence, development in the tourism sector should be in a way that is sustainable, diversifying and could help to shape the global recovery.
With the vaccination drives becoming a huge success and restrictions being curbed down, the tourism sector is slowly picking pace, but still has a long way to go.
UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili comments: “There is significant pent-up demand, and we see confidence slowly returning. Vaccinations will be key for recovery, but we must improve coordination and communication while making testing easier and more affordable if we want to see a rebound for the summer season in the Northern Hemisphere.”
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